Amid a dry winter thus far, drought has increased in Colorado.

According to the US Drought Monitor, 65.35 percent of the state is abnormally dry or experiencing technical drought, a slight uptick from 63.31 percent last week. Included in that portion of the state, 29.59 percent of the state is in technical drought. This is the highest percentage of the state that’s in drought since May 5, 2023.

The most severe drought is located in the central part of southern Colorado in the area of Conejos, Costilla, Alamosa, and Rio Grande counties, as well as in pockets of the southwest. This is a big contrast from the situation in a large portion of the central mountain region, where no abnormal dryness is present, as well as the majority of the eastern half of Colorado, where some abnormal dryness is present, but there’s very little area that’s dry enough to be considered technical drought. That drought in the eastern half of Colorado is found only in Weld and Morgan counties.

It’s also worth noting that Colorado’s level of dryness is roughly where it was during the same time last year.

Also in terms of drought, snowpack in Colorado remains low, with snowpack at 67 percent of what’s normal for this time of the year.

Several snowy days are on the radar for January. Perhaps that may help turn these numbers around.

Explore more drought data here.